Editing Plantation, Florida (section)

=== Land acquisition and drainage (1855–1930) ===
Before the start of the 20th century, the area that became Plantation was part of the [[Everglades]] wetlands, regularly covered by 2–3 feet of water.<ref name=":8" /> In 1855, Florida state passed the Internal Improvement Act and established the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, the trustees of which act as a government agency to oversee the management, sale, and development of state land.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book|url=http://sofia.usgs.gov/memorials/dovell|title=A History of the Everglades of Florida|last=Dovell|first=Junius Elmore|publisher=Chapel Hill|year=1947|pages=176–231, 367–374, 421–424, 464–465, 491–524}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dos.myflorida.com/florida-facts/florida-history/a-brief-history/florida-development/|title=Florida Development|website=Florida Department of State|access-date=2018-09-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://digitalcollections.fiu.edu/iif/about.htm|title=Minutes of the Board of Trustees Internal Improvement Fund|website=Florida International University Libraries|access-date=2018-09-26}}</ref> In 1897, the [[United States Department of the Interior|Interior Department]] submitted 2.9 million acres to the Florida Land Office; however, the submission was revoked the following year, due to fears it would "impinge upon the rights and interests of the [[Seminole]] Tribes."<ref name=":9" /> The Seminole people regularly used the area for hunting, fishing, and camping, and also used the nearby [[Pine Island Ridge, Florida|Pine Island Ridge]] as a headquarters during the second and third [[Seminole Wars]].<ref name=":8" />

In 1899, Florida Governor [[William Sherman Jennings]] began an initiative to drain the Everglades. To establish Florida's entitlement to the land, Jennings obtained a new patent (known as the 'Everglades Patent') for land "aggregating 2,862,280 acres."<ref name=":9" /> Following his election in 1905, Jennings' successor, [[Napoleon B. Broward|Napoleon Bonaparte Broward]] appointed Jennings as general counsel of the Internal Improvement Fund and continued the initiative for complete [[drainage]] of the Everglades (which was a core theme of his election campaign). Broward described the drainage as a duty of the trustees, and promised to create an "Empire of the Everglades".<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|url=http://ufdc.ufl.edu/browa|title=Everglades: Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Papers|website=University of Florida Digital Collections|language=en|access-date=2018-09-25}}</ref><ref name=":9" /><ref name=":8" />

The first attempts to drain the Everglades began in 1906, with the building and launching of two [[Dredging|dredges]] into the [[New River (Broward County, Florida)|New River]]: ''The Okeechobee'' (commanded by Captain Walter S. Holloway of the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|US Army Corps of Engineers]]) began cutting from the river's south fork (establishing the South New River Canal), and ''The Everglades'' began cutting from the north fork up to [[Lake Okeechobee]] (establishing the North New River Canal).<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Megna |first1=Ralph J. |last2=Currie |first2=Patrick R. |date=1978-09-01 |title=Draining the Everglades |url=http://journals.fcla.edu/browardlegacy/article/view/79098 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515223440/http://journals.fcla.edu/browardlegacy/article/download/79098/76460 |archive-date=May 15, 2018 |journal=Broward Legacy |language=en |volume=2 |issue=3–4 |pages=29}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=":8" /> The first waterway opened after the drainage attempts were named The Holloway Canal, after Captain Holloway.<ref name=":8" />

Following a meeting at the [[1908 Democratic National Convention]], Broward and Jennings established a deal with [[Richard "Dicky" J. Bolles|Richard 'Dicky' J. Bolles]]: The fund trustees granted Bolles {{convert|500000|acre|km2}} of overflowed state lands at $2 per acre, with an agreement for the State to use 50% of the $1 million proceeds purely for drainage and reclamation, and another agreement to establish 5 main canals. Following this, Bolles founded the Florida Fruit Lands Company, becoming the Everglades' first private developer.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://everglades.fiu.edu/reclaim/bios/bolles.htm|title=Everglades Biographies - Richard 'Dicky' J. Bolles|last=Clement|first=Gail|website=FIU Libraries|access-date=2018-09-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.palmbeachpast.org/2010/11/|title=West Boca's Secret – It was to have been Farmville…except for that water thing…|last=Pedersen|first=Ginger|date=2010-11-28|website=Palm Beach Past|language=en-US|access-date=2018-09-25}}</ref>

The Everglades Plantation Company was established in January 1909, following entry into a 2-year contract with the Internal Improvement Fund trustees by Adam A. Boggs (attorney and vice president of the Miami Bank and Trust Company) and A.B. Sanders (engineer and later president of the Miami Engineering and Construction Company) to create a rice [[Plantations in the American South|plantation]] in the Everglades.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Knetsch|first=Joe|date=1990-04-30|title=The Broward Rice Plantation: Dream or Simply Speculation?|url=http://fau.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A3486/datastream/OBJ/view/Broward_Legacy__Volume_13__Winter_Spring_1990___Number_1_and_2.pdf|journal=Broward Legacy|volume=13|pages=2–10|via=Florida Atlantic University Digital Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/SearchResultDetail?inquirytype=EntityName&directionType=Initial&searchNameOrder=EVERGLADESPLANTATION%208001350&aggregateId=forp-800135-82a81dcf-297d-4e0f-abae-7c8e4d0edddb&searchTerm=everglades%20plantation&listNameOrder=EVERGLADESPLANTATION%208001350|title=Detail by Entity Name: The Everglades Plantation Company|website=Florida Department of State - Division of Corporations|language=en|access-date=2018-10-17}}</ref> The agreement enabled Boggs & Sanders to rent a significant amount of land around the (then work-in-progress) North New River Canal, and also subsequently purchase the land for between $3 and $15 per acre.<ref name=":12" />

It was later discovered that the area leased to Boggs & Sanders already belonged to Dicky Bolles, as part of the 500,000 acres he had purchased; however, the Everglades Plantation Company was able to retain the land, despite Bolles' claims.<ref name=":12" /> Sanders led further reclamation efforts for the area, including the digging of 60 miles of ditches.<ref name=":12" /> Boggs & Sanders were also granted extensions to their 2-year contract, on the grounds that the land remained underwater.<ref name=":12" />

In 1911, Bolles held a land lottery (known as the Progresso Land Auction) at $20–24 per acre, granting residential lots in the Town of Progresso (now the area known as [[Wilton Manors, Florida|Wilton Manors]]) to anyone purchasing farmland of five acres or more in the drainage land;''<ref name=":3" />''<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-03-19/news/sfl-progresso-land-maps-ugc-20110319_1_land-sale-port-everglades-drainage|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926014339/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-03-19/news/sfl-progresso-land-maps-ugc-20110319_1_land-sale-port-everglades-drainage|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 26, 2018|title=The Progresso land sale of 100 years ago|last=Scott|first=Patrick|date=2011-03-19|work=SunSentinel|access-date=2018-09-25|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yymmDQhYmzgC|title=The Everglades: River of Grass|last=Douglas|first=Marjory Stoneman|date=2007|publisher=Pineapple Press Inc|isbn=9781561643943|language=en}}</ref> however, no auction actually took place and the purchased land remained under water. As a result, a lawsuit was brought against Bolles.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGRGPgAACAAJ|title=Up for Grabs: A Trip Through Time and Space in the Sunshine State|last=Rothchild|first=John|date=2000-12-13|publisher=University Press of Florida|isbn=9780813018294|language=en}}</ref>

In 1912, the North New River Canal opened,<ref name=":9" /> and the Sewell Lock (also known as Lock No.1), the first lock in Florida, and one of the older remaining structures in Broward County, was built on it, just outside of what is now Plantation. The lock enabled access between the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee by water.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1992-12-13/news/9203060340_1_canal-water-level-historic-places|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925065111/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1992-12-13/news/9203060340_1_canal-water-level-historic-places|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 25, 2018|title=Sewell Lock A Symbol Of An Earlier Era Historic Structure On Canal Was Crucial To Transportation|last=Roth|first=Patti|work=SunSentinel|access-date=2018-09-24|publication-date=1992-12-13|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.broward.org/History/NationalRegister/Pages/LockNo1NorthNewRiverCanal.aspx|title=Lock No. 1 North New River Canal|website=www.broward.org|language=en-us|access-date=2018-09-24}}</ref><ref name=":8" />

The lawsuit against Bolles was settled in November 1913, with Bolles retaining the $1.4 million already received, but prohibiting any further collection until the land was drained and surveyed. Bolles was also arrested in December of that year but was subsequently found innocent.<ref name=":5" />

Drainage of the land largely failed, with most of it reverting to the state for taxes; however, two local farmers, O. L Daniel and Dewey Hawkins began buying it, acquiring approximately 6,000 acres and 4,000 acres respectively.''<ref name=":3" />''

In the years following their original agreement, contract negotiation escalated into legal battles between the Everglades Plantation Company and the Internal Improvement Trustees. These disputes ended in 1914, in the company's favor. The Trustees no longer insisted on the continuation of the rice plantation attempts and, from this point, the company focused primarily on land sales.<ref name=":12" /><ref>{{Cite journal|date=1913-12-13|title=Florida Crop News|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i8JKAQAAMAAJ|journal=Fruit Trade Journal and Produce Record|volume=50|pages=136}}</ref>

Broward County (originally planned under the name Everglades County but ultimately named after former governor Broward) was created by the Florida legislature in 1915 by combining portions of Dade County and Palm Beach County.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.floridahistorynetwork.com/april-30-1915---broward-county-created-named-after-former-governor.html|title=On this day in Florida history - April 30, 1915 - Broward County created, named after former governor|website=Florida History Network|access-date=2018-10-01}}</ref><ref name=":8" />

Driven by the success of the drainage projects, the [[Florida land boom of the 1920s|Florida Land Boom]] took place between 1920 and 1925, seeing rapid growth in population and land sales. The boom reached its peak in the fall of 1925 and subsequently collapsed in 1926.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":9" />

The land boom was closely followed by two severe hurricanes striking the area, significantly impacting the established communities and killing thousands.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfwmd.gov/who-we-are/history|title=History {{!}} South Florida Water Management District|website=www.sfwmd.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-09-26}}</ref><ref name=":9" /> The first, in September 1926 (known as the [[1926 Miami hurricane]]), reached wind speeds of 140 miles per hour, and the second, in September 1928 (known as the [[1928 Okeechobee hurricane]]), reached wind speeds of 135 miles per hour.<ref name=":9" /> In response, additional flood control laws were established, and millions of additional dollars were spent on drainage efforts across the Everglades in the subsequent decades.<ref name=":9" />